Floating surface skimmer

ABSTRACT

A floating surface skimmer having a hollow bowl and a discshaped float member for supporting the bowl slightly below the surface of a liquid; the bowl has a substantially closed bottom and a substantially continuous vertical side portion, the upper edge of which forms a substantially continuous horizontal side edge constituting a weir; adjustment means are provided to adjust the position of the bowl vertically with respect to the float member which, in turn, creates the adjustment of the weir relative to the surface of the liquid; the skimmer is provided with an exhaust means which communicates, at one end, with the interior of the bowl and at its other end with a source of suction.

United States Patent 1 1 3,693,800

Stanfield et al. 1*Sept. 26, 1972 1541 FLOATING SURFACE SKIMMER 2,661,094 12/1953 Stewart ..210/24z 72 I t H 2,010,363 s/1935 l-line ..21o/242 x 1 ms mfg wgmg g 3,547,553 12/1970 Stanfield ..415/7 Okla.

Primary Examiner-Reuben Friedman [73] Assignees Acme Products Incorporated, Tulsa, Assistant ExaminerT. A. Granger Okla. Attorney-William S. Dorman Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to Aug. 10, 1988, [57] ABSTRACT as bee d c a me A floating surface skimmer having a hollow bowl and 22 Filed: 14 1970 a disc-shaped float member for supporting the bowl 1 slightly below the surface of a liquid; the bowl has a PP N03 97,875 substantially closed bottom and a substantially con- Related US. Application D tmuous vertical side portion, the upper edge of which forms a substantially continuous horizontal side edge [63] Continuation in-part of Ser. No. 880,594, Nov. constituting a weir; adjustment means are provided to 28, 1969, Pat. No. 3,598,501. adjust the position of the bowl vertically with respect to the float member which, in turn, creates the adjust- [52] 0.8. CI ..2l0/242 ment of the weir relative to the surface of the liquid; [51] Int. Cl. ..E04h 3/20 the skimmer is provided with an exhaust means which [58] Field of Search ..4l5/7; 210/169, 242 communicates, at one end, with the interior of the bowl and at its'other end with a source of suction. [56] References Cited M. UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 3,598,501 3/19 711 Stanf eld et al .415]? I 11 I llllllll 1 I I I l HLL 1 1 I lllHll 1 v I I P'ATENTEDsrrzs m2 Fig. 1

I 111mm HOWARD E. STANFIELD 4O GARY W. STANFIELD GEORGE F. CAMP Fig. 2

INVENTORS Maw ATTORNEY 1 FLOATING SURFACE SKIMMER RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 880,594, filed on Nov. 28', 1969 and entitled Floating Surface Skimmer with Continuous Weir, and now US. Pat. No. 3,598,501 issued Aug. 10, 1971.

The present invention also constitutes an improvement over co-pending application Ser. No. 787,823, filed Dec. 30, 1968 by the assignee of the present application and entitled Floating Surface Skimmer, and now US. Pat. No. 3,457,553 issued Dec. 18, 1970.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a floating surface skimmer and, more particularly, to a skimmer having a substantially continuous weir which is vertically adjustable with respect to the surface of the liquid upon which the skimmer floats, whereby the contaminated surface of a body or pool of liquid may be skimmed off and expelled through an exhaust hose for removal from the body of liquid.

PRIOR ART The surface of a pool or body of liquid, such as water, frequently becomes covered or contaminated with some lighter but undesirable matter, such as leaves and small debris, or petroleum, such as crude oil, or, following accidents, even refined hydrocarbons. It is usually desirable to remove such extraneous matter from the surface of the liquid bodies. One method of removing leaves and small debris from small bodies of water, such as swimming pools, is the clumsy and inconvenient method of capturing the debris by a well known netting process. Stationary skimming systems are available, but are generally dependent upon a fixed and constant surface level. Floating pumps are also available, but generally with intakes well below the surface of the liquid. And for such problems as oil slicks on larger bodies of water, such as the high seas, there is apparently no present solution, as unfortunately demonstrated by recent well-publicized accounts of oil tanker shipwrecks and subsequently contaminated beaches.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates a novel floating skimmer which has been further capable of solving many of the different problems of surface contamination in liquid bodies. The basic elements of the skimmer are a bowl and a float from which the bowl is supported. The upper horizontal and substantially continuous edge of the bowl constitutes a weir and is disposed near to and slightly below the surface of the liquid. Means are provided to vary the position of the bowl with respect to the float so as to vary the thickness of the layer which is skimmed from the surface of the liquid. An exhaust means communicates with the interior of the bowl. This exhaust means also connects with a source of vacuum was to remove from the bowl whatever is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

An important object of this invention is to provide a substantially continuous weir for skimming off a layer of predetermined thickness from a surface of a body or pool of liquid.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a floating skimmer having a substantially continuous weir with means to vary the relative vertical position between the weir and the float means for adjusting the thickness of the layer which is skimmed from the surface.

Other and further objects and advantageous features of the present invention will hereinafter more fully appear in connection with a detailed description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a skimmer representing one embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view through the skimmer of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a skimming device which includes a floatable support member or disc 10 whose external surfaces are constructed of reinforced fiberglas, metal or the like and which is filled with styrofoam or other material which will give the support member sufficient buoyancy so that the'entire skimmer unit will float at or near the surface of a body of water (not shown). If desired, the external surfaces of the support member 10 can be made completely water-tight in which case air alone in the hollow interior of the float will be capable of giving the support member the buoyancy required.

Immediately below and surrounding the support member 10 is a skimmer bowl 12. The side wall 14 of the bowl is substantially cylindrical and open at its upper end. The lower end of the bowl 12 is closed by the bottom member 16 which is connected to the lower end of the cylindrical wall 14 in a water-tight relation.

A plurality of relatively narrow strengthing ribs 17 are provided on the bottom 16 to add structural rigidity. Only two of these are shown, with one in section, in FIG. 2 for the sake of simplicity. The upper edge 18 of the side wall 14 is substantially horizontal and constitutes a continuous horizontal weir as indicated heretofore.

The float ring 10 is adjustably movable with respect to the bottom of the skimmer bowl 12 by means of three identical adjustment means 20. Each adjustment means includes an elongated bolt 22 which is secured at its lower end to the bottom 16 by means of nuts 24, washers 26 and spacer 28. Another pair of washers 30 are supported on the bolt 44 immediately above and below the float member 10. A spring 32, surrounding the bolt 22 exerts a pressure against the lower surface of the lowermost washer 46 and against the lower surface of the lowermost washer 30. A wing nut 34 is threadedly mounted on the bolt 22 immediately above the upper washer 30.

If it is desired to decrease the thickness of the layer of the liquid or other material being skimmed from the surface of a body of water (not shown), the wing nut 34 is turned on the bolt 22 so that it moves downwardly on the bolt 22 thereby compressing the spring 32 and moving the float member 10 towards the bowl l2. Naturally, the wing nuts 34 on all three adjustment means 20 are adjusted in similar manner to move the entire float member downwardly in a substantially uniform manner. Conversely, if it is desired to increase the thickness of the layer of liquid skimmed from the surface, the individual wing nuts 34 are turned upwardly on their associated bolts 22 allowing the springs 32 to expand and lift the float member 10 upwardly with respect to the bottom of the skimmer bowl l2.

At the center of the bottom 16 of the skimmer bowl there is provided a threaded opening 36 .which is adapted to receive the threaded end 38 of a hose or conduit 40. The end of the hose (not shown) remote from the skimmer 12 can be connected to any suitable source of suction so as to remove any skimmed liquid from the interior of the bowl 12. it should be understood that this flexible conduit or hose 40 should be suitably reinforced so as to be non-collapsible when connected to a source of suction. The above described connection is, perhaps, the most convenient method of connecting the interior of the bowl 12 to an exhaust source. However, it is possible to provide connection between the hose 40 and the interior of the bowl .12 through the side of the bowl or through the float member 10, if desired.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relation to the drawings attached hereto,'it

L should be. understood that other and further modifications apart from those shown or suggested herein may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid comprising a float buoyantly supported by said liquid, a weir, supported by said float, said weir being open at its upper end and being substantially closed along the bottom and side portions thereof, the side portion of said weir being defined by a substantially continuous and horizontal side edge, means for adjusting the relative vertical relationship between said float and sald weir so as to vary the position of the side edge of said weir correspondingly with respect to the surface of said body of water, exhaust means communicating with the interior of said weir for removing skimmed liquid therefrom.

2. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 1 wherein the side portion of said weir is substantially cylindrical.

3. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 2 wherein said float is in the. form of a circular disc of predetermined thickness and is adapted to float on the surface of said body of liquid within the confines of said weir.

4. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means comprises a plurality of bolts extending vertically upwardly in regular spaced relation from the bottom of said weir through and above said float, spring 7 means surrounding each bolt between said float and the bottom of the weir and nut means threadedly engaging the portions of said bolts extending above said float. 

1. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid comprising a float buoyantly supported by said liquid, a weir supported by said float, said weir being open at its upper end and being substantially closed along the bottom and side portions thereof, the side portion of said weir being defined by a substantially continuous and horizontal side edge, means for adjusting the relative vertical relationship between said float and saId weir so as to vary the position of the side edge of said weir correspondingly with respect to the surface of said body of water, exhaust means communicating with the interior of said weir for removing skimmed liquid therefrom.
 2. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 1 wherein the side portion of said weir is substantially cylindrical.
 3. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 2 wherein said float is in the form of a circular disc of predetermined thickness and is adapted to float on the surface of said body of liquid within the confines of said weir.
 4. Apparatus for skimming the surface of a body of liquid as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means comprises a plurality of bolts extending vertically upwardly in regular spaced relation from the bottom of said weir through and above said float, spring means surrounding each bolt between said float and the bottom of the weir and nut means threadedly engaging the portions of said bolts extending above said float. 